Add ability to create accounts with custom code

[Dominik1999]

+++ Updated Issue to summarize the discussion +++

Custom account code allows for general smart contracts

Currently, we only allow users to create accounts with standardized code (basic wallet and faucet). We want users to be able to create accounts with custom code and deploy them on Miden using the Miden client. This is the equivalent of deploying Ethereum smart contracts, and it will widen the space for use cases as users can define their account interfaces.

Importing accounts with custom code into the client

Importing accounts into the Miden client using ... account import <file_name>.mac is already possible. If the account was created with custom code, importing it already works.

The only add-on here would be to show the account code. We could add a CLI command, such as ... account show code or something similar.

This issue in miden-base is related 0xPolygonMiden/miden-base#550

Importing custom code into accounts

I also want to be able to import MASM code into an account. This is related to #220. I want to use ... account new <ACCOUNT TYPE> code <PATH/TO/file_name>.masm. Then, I want the client to read my custom account code .masm file. Finally, I want to deploy this account, so I need to execute the first transaction against it and send the data to the Miden Node.

Reading in a .masm file for account code is not the same as creating a full account from scratch. The user might also want to initialize custom storage or a custom auth scheme. However, AccountStorage initialization can be done the same way we create accounts in the BasicWallet. The storage layout would only contain 254 slots and all slot types are StorageSlotType::Value. Slot 0 and 256 are reserved for the public key and the Layout. But this is already done automatically.

After initialization, the client should somehow deploy that contract by executing a transaction against it.

[bobbinth]

I would separate creating a new account with custom code and updating code in an account into two separate issues.

As a user, I want to create accounts with custom code using the Miden client. I want to use a CLI command like

miden-client account new <type, e.g., basic-mutable> custom <PATH_TO_DIRECTORY/FILE_NAME>

Whereas in the CLI expects in <PATH_TO_DIRECTORY> one *.masm file.

This may not be sufficient as besides the code we may need to provide additional data. For example, for basic wallet, we also need to define initial state of the storage (to store the public key for the account). So, we probably need to come up with a more comprehensive approach here to describe not only the MASM code that is needed for the account, but also how the initial state of the storage is to be constructed.

[Dominik1999]

I would separate creating a new account with custom code and updating code in an account into two separate issues.

As a user, I want to create accounts with custom code using the Miden client. I want to use a CLI command like

miden-client account new <type, e.g., basic-mutable> custom <PATH_TO_DIRECTORY/FILE_NAME>

Whereas in the CLI expects in <PATH_TO_DIRECTORY> one *.masm file.

This may not be sufficient as besides the code we may need to provide additional data. For example, for basic wallet, we also need to define initial state of the storage (to store the public key for the account). So, we probably need to come up with a more comprehensive approach here to describe not only the MASM code that is needed for the account, but also how the initial state of the storage is to be constructed.

This is a very good point. Let us use this issue to come up with a solution. We could have a text file

[storage]
slots: [(1 : "{pub_key}")]

[code]
account_code:
"
use miden::account
begin
    exec.account::get_id
end
"

[bobbinth]

I think we may need to have something a bit more sophisticated than this. For example, in the above example it is not clear how the pub key is to be generated (e.g., for which signature scheme) and what the type of the storage slot would be.

In general, we need to come up with some kind of account package format. This will also be related to the compiler as the compiler (or at least the Miden SDK part of it) would need to output the full account package which contains not only the code but also the description of the expected storage structure.

cc @greenhat and @bitwalker

[Dominik1999]

Are those two separate questions?

• one question could be how to inject a custom account (or smart contract) into the Miden client to be deployed on the blockchain.
• another question could be how to create the custom smart contract, including the public key

For example, in web3.js the users simply provides a JSON with the contract data in byte code. So we could use a similar method to create accounts with custom code.

Then, we could think in our SDK about a method how to compile an account (including its code and storage and keys) into that format.

(or is that what you meant with your last comment?)

[bobbinth]

one question could be how to inject a custom account (or smart contract) into the Miden client to be deployed on the blockchain.

I believe we already have this (via importing .mac files into the client). Basically, as long as we can serialize an account into a .mac file, the client should be able to import it.

another question could be how to create the custom smart contract, including the public key

This is the main question, I think. And then maybe this is not an issue for the client but for miden-base? i.e., how to create a .mac file for custom account.

[Dominik1999]

Can we already import .mac files into the client? If so, we can close this issue and open one in miden-base.

We can also use the Playground to create custom accounts for builder's testnet @gubloon.

[igamigo]

It is indeed possible to import *.mac files, where each file is a serialized AccountData instance

[bobbinth]

I would probably still keep this issue open for now. It might be good to provide an ability through the client to create custom accounts - even if that's just pass-through functionality for miden base.

[mFragaBA]

The only add-on here would be to show the account code. We could add a CLI command, such as ... account show code or something similar.

@Dominik1999 just in case this is already possible with miden-client account show <ACCOUNT_ID> -c. It also accepts -k (keys), -v (vault) and -s (storage)

[mFragaBA]

also, regarding the Importing custom code into accounts section. Is the idea to create a new account (from the set of account types we already have) and override its code (while preserving the storage layout and vault). All that before uploading the account to the node. Is that different to importing an account with its .mac file? I think the use case would be covered that way and in any case we can provide a command to generate the mac file

[Dominik1999]

Sorry, I didn't see your response @mFragaBA

So the general idea is to be able to write arbitrary smart contracts and deploy them using the Miden client.

The problem is the storage layout when creating custom accounts, as described here 0xPolygonMiden/miden-base#550.

We have a solution now here 0xPolygonMiden/miden-base#667

[bobbinth]

@igamigo - this is now closed by #680, right?

[igamigo]

Yes, closed by #680